Sioux City Community Schools -

For this reason, the District exercises a host of crisis prevention and planning tactics in partnership with the Sioux City Police Department, Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, and emergency responders. Whether there is a severe weather threat, a fire, or another threat to safety in our schools, the safety of our students, staff, and visitors is our top priority. 

Reporting A Threat

Any threat should be reported to your building principals and administrators right away. Call 911 for an emergency or a crime in progress. If it is after school hours and you are unable to reach a school principal, contact police directly.

Safe + Sound Iowa is an anonymous reporting tool for students, teachers, parents, and community members to help identify and provide intervention for students in crisis before they harm themselves or others. You can report a threat by filling out this form.

Crisis Prevention Training and Planning Procedures

The Sioux City Community School District has multiple strategies in place to prepare for and respond to potential crisis situations. Some of these strategies include a crisis guide, fire, tornado, and intruder drills, staff training, and integrated school safety software.

Because we recognize that every crisis is unique, the District’s crisis guide serves as a starting point to assist in responding to each crisis scenario. The crisis guide is not a public document. To ensure that individuals with ill intentions cannot anticipate our response to the crisis, we keep this guide confidential.

Every threat is taken seriously, and the first step is always to ensure the safety of our students and staff and then determine the credibility of the threat.

Standard Response Protocol

The District uses Standard Response Protocol, or common terminology, to implement safety measures in our buildings. The protocol(s) are determined based on each unique situation through collaboration with District administrators, school administrators, school resource officers, and law enforcement.

The common terms used in our schools include:

If the shelter protocol is implemented, staff and students will be instructed to use the appropriate safety strategy for the hazard, such as tornados or Hazmat incidents.

Crisis Response Communication

While we understand communication to our families is vital in the event of an emergency situation, the safety of our students and staff is our first priority. We will communicate as much information as we can to families as soon as it is safe and possible to do so. This is determined by the type of situation and the information we receive from first responders.

The District has a multi-faceted approach to communicating updates in the event of a crisis. Parents and staff may receive communication via text, phone call, or email. Updates may also be communicated through district social media accounts, the District website and mobile app, or local news.

It is important the District has the most up-to-date parent/guardian/staff contact information. Parents or guardians who need to update their contact information on file with the District should do so by contacting the registrar at their student's school.

A Family's Role During a Crisis

During an emergency situation, the first instinct of a parent or guardian is to call the school or rush to pick up their students. The truth is this complicates matters from a safety and security standpoint and hinders the response time of school officials and first responders. The best action a family member can take is to stay close to their phone and email for updates and instructions.